Aggressive liquid additives are used in vapor-containing process lines and equipment for a variety of reasons. Primarily they are used to prevent or mitigate corrosion dr fouling in the process lines and equipment. "Aggressive liquid additives" as used in this specification and appended claims means those additives which pose corrosion problems themselves if allowed to contact the internal walls of the process lines or equipment in the liquid form. Corrosion is especially a problem at higher temperatures. Such additives include amines, chloriding agents, and sulfiding agents.
The currently used method of introducing an aggressive liquid additive into a system is primarily by atomization. The additive is either directly atomized into the system or first mixed with inert gas prior to atomizing the gas/liquid mixture in the system. These known methods of introducing aggressive liquid additives into a system are inadequate. The known methods permit the aggressive liquid additive to be introduced in a liquid form. This results in corrosion from the aggressive liquid additive contacting the piping walls and other internal equipment surfaces.
Other problems also result from the atomization methods. Atomization is achieved by passing the aggressive liquid additive through small atomization nozzles. Such nozzles have multiple small passages which can be fouled or plugged over time thus requiring frequent maintenance and replacement. Where the method of mixing an inert gas is used to aid atomization, an inert gas supply is necessary. Steam is often the most readily available and cheapest inert gas available. However, steam can cause problems in some processes where water is undesirable and steam can cause corrosion and/or erosion problems. Using steam needed for other processes in the plant may cause steam shortages where needed.
A method is needed wherein the aggressive liquid additive is introduced in a form which will not contribute to corrosion and/or erosion and require steam to aid atomization. Such a method is provided by the method of this invention.